For Spring Break 2018 we decided to take a family vacation to Sedona, Arizona.

Why Sedona??? Well, when my husband and I were dating we were given a free weekend getaway trip to Sedona for listening to a timeshare presentation – we did end up buying a timeshare, but more on that later. We both loved Sedona and the Grand Canyon and knew we wanted to come back one day with our family. We also knew that we wanted to the kids to be old enough to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of this amazing place. With the kids now old enough, we decided to book the trip!

Research shows that March though May or September through November are the best times visit Sedona and the Grand Canyon. This is when the weather is nicest and you can avoid the peak tourist season of summer.

We stayed at our timeshare, The Sedona Summit, which we loved! They have huge units with full kitchens and washers and dryers along with several pools and activities. They do rent out rooms to the public, so if you are traveling with a family, this is a great option.

Sedona Summit

Highlights of the trip:

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is an easy 2 hour drive from Sedona. Once you get to the Grand Canyon National Park entrance, there is $25 entrance fee per vehicle, you can then park your car in several locations throughout the park and catch the free shuttle buses that will take you to all the scenic overlooks. You have the option to walk to each overlook if you prefer to walk the rim or don’t feel like riding the shuttle to each stop. The buses run about every 10 minutes. The views are amazing and all the kids really loved it! We did end up getting snowed on, which was not in the forecast! It made for really cold end of the day, but all in all, we all had an amazing and unforgettable trip to the Grand Canyon!

Grand Canyon South Rim

Out of Africa Wildlife Park

This was a last minute add-on to our vacation and I must say that it was the most amazing experience! It’s a 45 minute drive from Sedona and well worth the trip! We decided on doing the VIP – Behind the Scenes Tour where the founders, Dean and Prayeri led us though the park, which offered up-close and personal encounters with all the animals. You could see how much love the animals had for Dean and Prayeri and vice versa! They would call the animal’s names and the animals would come to them no matter how far away they were and they were so excited to see them!

They have so many animals at the park that I can’t even name them all, but here is a list of them all. Our favorites were the giraffes, the sloth, and three baby lions that were just born – adorable!

They also have zip lining at the park, so we had to that, too! The Racing Raptor Zip Line was so fun and we zip lined right over the animals!

Racing Raptor Zip Line

Pink Jeep Tours

The Pink Jeep tour was a thrilling adventure so much fun! Wow, what an experience! We chose a combo tour – The Broken Arrow/Scenic Rim Combo. The Broken Arrow was by far the better of the two parts. The Broken Arrow has you climbing and descending the red rocks of Sedona and it was thrilling for sure! You also have the opportunity to get out of the jeep twice for breathtaking view and pictures. Our driver, Pete, was an amazing driver, photographer and full of Sedona knowledge. The Scenic Rim portion was a very bumpy ride which only took us to a half-way point scenic lookout. We found out that if you book just the Scenic Rim tour, then you go all the way up to the top for the best view. So, I recommend that you either do just the Broken Arrow tour or the Scenic Rim tour and not the combo. And, if you choose just one, then I recommend the Broken Arrow tour for sure! The whole family agrees on that one!

Broken Arrow Tour

Hiking

Sedona offers so many areas to hike. The hikes range from easy to difficult, so you can decide on what works for you and there is something for everyone. Many of the hiking paths have free parking access, but some hiking spots have parking where you need to buy a day or week pass and you can get those passes at the local Circle K’s or visitor center. We found enough free parking hikes that we did not need to buy a pass. We did a really fun one that was an easy 2 mile loop called the Pyramid Loop, which offered amazing views. If you follow me on Instagram, you can see a video of the hike.

Hiking Trails

The Food

Sedona had some really amazing food! Here are our favorite’s…

The Cowboy Club Grille

Casual steakhouse. This was a super fun place for whole family. Very friendly staff, fun décor, and delicious food. We had to try the cactus fries! It was so good that we dined here twice.

The Cowboy Club Grille

The Hudson

American Fare. The food was amazing and the outside patio had the best view of Sedona! Everyone agreed that we need to go back here!

Beet Salad – The Hudson

The Red Rock Café

Best Breakfast. The food was so amazing and well worth the 45 minute wait to get a table! We all wanted to go back! They have a 3lb cinnamon roll that we just had to get! I had the special skillet of the day and it was the best skillet that I have ever had! The ranchero sauce was the best and really made the dish!

3 Pound Cinnamon Roll – Red Rock Cafe

That pretty much sums up our trip! This trip got a big thumbs up from the whole family!

Please share your stories and favorites of Sedona and the Grand Canyon in the comments below!

Are you ready for a super quick, super easy and delicious banana chocolate chip mini muffin recipe? Well, I have one for you and it’s a hit every time that I make them for the kids.

Around here, we love mini-muffins! I love mini-muffins, because they are less messy! When you have two boys in the house that travel from room to room while they eat (no, they should not be doing this, but they are sneaky!), leaving crumb trails everywhere (the evidence), then having a bite-size muffin that can pop right into their mouth is like dream come true for me! And, the kids love mini-muffins, because they can grab them on the go as they are passing by or heading out the door.

You can whip these up in 5 minutes! My daughter always loves making baking anything and these are so easy that she can make them on her own and I just help with the oven.

Hi, I am Holly! I am the wife of a very wonderful and supportive husband and a mom of 3 wonderful kids.

For as long as I can remember, friends and even strangers have asked me things like where I got my shoes? How do you curl your hair? What do you eat? Where do shop? What exercises do you do? And, I have been told many times over the years that I should start a blog to share resources with women.

I love sharing about things that I truly love with everyone! At the encouragement of my friends, starting a blog has been in the back of my mind for many years, but I kept thinking that I was too busy and I would start it later down the road. Well, that later kept becoming even later and later. I don’t think there is ever going to be the perfect time to start. So, I decided that I just need to do it!!!

So, what is my lifestyle blog going to be about? Well, my goal is for it to be a place for women to come and visit anytime for conversation, to find a recipe, check out the new style trends, learn something new or share your thoughts. I love trying new things and researching the latest trends, I love shopping and finding amazing deals, I have always loved makeup & skin care and I want to share it all with you as well as learn from you! Ultimately, I would love for everyone to come to my blog for a comforting break in their busy day and to leave feeling inspired and empowered.

Just a Mom with Her Blog is going to be a lifestyle website. Warning – It’s not going to be about a perfect mom or the perfect family – I am just normal mom and we are just a normal family. It’s is not going to be full of gorgeous professional photography – I am not a photographer. It’s not going to be perfectly written – I am not a writer. What it is going to be is real and authentic.

I hope you will want to join me on this journey and I look forward to learning more about each of you as I am hoping we can use this platform to inspire one other.